Definition of Unbundling

Unbundling

When a multinational firm unbundles its transfer of funds into separate flows for specific purposes.
See: bundling.

Bundling, unbundling

A trend allowing creation of securities either by combining primitive and derivative
securities into one composite hybrid or by separating returns on an asset into classes.

CARs (cumulative abnormal returns)

a measure used in academic finance articles to measure the excess returns an investor would have received over a particular time period if he or she were invested in a particular stock.
This is typically used in control and takeover studies, where stockholders are paid a premium for being taken over. Starting some time period before the takeover (often five days before the first announced bid, but sometimes a longer period), the researchers calculate the actual daily stock returns for the target firm and subtract out the expected market returns (usually calculated using the firm’s beta and applying it to overall market movements during the time period under observation).
The excess actual return over the capital asset pricing model-determined expected return market is called an ‘‘abnormal return.’’ The cumulation of the daily abnormal returns over the time period under observation is the CAR. The term CAR(-5, 0) means the CAR calculated from five days before the
announcement to the day of announcement. The CAR(-1, 0) is a control premium, although Mergerstat generally uses the stock price five days before announcement rather than one day before announcement as the denominator in its control premium calculation. However, the CAR for any period other than (-1, 0) is not mathematically equivalent to a control premium.

economic components model

Abrams’ model for calculating DLOM based on the interaction of discounts from four economic components.
This model consists of four components: the measure of the economic impact of the delay-to-sale, monopsony power to buyers, and incremental transactions costs to both buyers and sellers.

NPV (net present value of cash flows)

Same as PV, but usually includes a subtraction for an initial cash outlay.

PV (present value of cash flows)

the value in today’s dollars of cash flows that occur in different time periods.
present value factor equal to the formula 1/(1 - r)n, where n is the number of years from the valuation date to the cash flow and r is the discount rate.
For business valuation, n should usually be midyear, i.e., n = 0.5, 1.5, . . .

Abnormal returns

Part of the return that is not due to systematic influences (market wide influences). In
other words, abnormal returns are above those predicted by the market movement alone. Related: excess
returns.

Acquisition of assets

A merger or consolidation in which an acquirer purchases the selling firm's assets.

Affirmative covenant

A bond covenant that specifies certain actions the firm must take.

All or none

Requirement that none of an order be executed unless all of it can be executed at the specified price.

All-or-none underwriting

An arrangement whereby a security issue is canceled if the underwriter is unable
to re-sell the entire issue.

Asset

Any possession that has value in an exchange.

Asset/equity ratio

The ratio of total assets to stockholder equity.

Asset/liability management

Also called surplus management, the task of managing funds of a financial
institution to accomplish the two goals of a financial institution:
1) to earn an adequate return on funds invested, and
2) to maintain a comfortable surplus of assets beyond liabilities.

Asset activity ratios

Ratios that measure how effectively the firm is managing its assets.

Asset allocation decision

The decision regarding how an institution's funds should be distributed among the
major classes of assets in which it may invest.

Asset-backed security

A security that is collateralized by loans, leases, receivables, or installment contracts
on personal property, not real estate.

Asset-based financing

Methods of financing in which lenders and equity investors look principally to the
cash flow from a particular asset or set of assets for a return on, and the return of, their financing.

Asset classes

Categories of assets, such as stocks, bonds, real estate and foreign securities.

Asset-coverage test

A bond indenture restriction that permits additional borrowing on if the ratio of assets to
debt does not fall below a specified minimum.

Asset for asset swap

Creditors exchange the debt of one defaulting borrower for the debt of another
defaulting borrower.

Asset pricing model

A model for determining the required rate of return on an asset.

Asset substitution

A firm's investing in assets that are riskier than those that the debtholders expected.

Asset substitution problem

Arises When the stockholders substitute riskier assets for the firm's existing
assets and expropriate value from the debtholders.

Asset swap

An interest rate swap used to alter the cash flow characteristics of an institution's assets so as to
provide a better match with its iabilities.

Asset turnover

The ratio of net sales to total assets.

Asset pricing model

A model, such as the Capital asset Pricing Model (CAPM), that determines the required
rate of return on a particular asset.

Assets

A firm's productive resources.

Assets requirements

A common element of a financial plan that describes projected capital spending and the
proposed uses of net working capital.

At-the-money

An option is at-the-money if the strike price of the option is equal to the market price of the
underlying security. For example, if xyz stock is trading at 54, then the xyz 54 option is at-the-money.

Beta (Mutual Funds)

The measure of a fund's or stocks risk in relation to the market. A beta of 0.7 means
the fund's total return is likely to move up or down 70% of the market change; 1.3 means total return is likely
to move up or down 30% more than the market. Beta is referred to as an index of the systematic risk due to
general market conditions that cannot be diversified away.

Beta equation (Mutual Funds)

The beta of a fund is determined as follows:
[(n) (sum of (xy)) ]-[ (sum of x) (sum of y)]
[(n) (sum of (xx)) ]-[ (sum of x) (sum of x)]
where: n = # of observations (36 months)
x = rate of return for the S&P 500 Index
y = rate of return for the fund

Book-entry securities

The Treasury and federal agencies are moving to a book-entry system in which securities are not represented by engraved pieces of paper but are maintained in computerized records at the
Fed in the names of member banks, which in turn keep records of the securities they own as well as those they
are holding for customers. In the case of other securities where a book-entry has developed, engraved
securities do exist somewhere in quite a few cases. These securities do not move from holder to holder but are
usually kept in a central clearinghouse or by another agent.

Call money rate

Also called the broker loan rate , the interest rate that banks charge brokers to finance
margin loans to investors. The broker charges the investor the call money rate plus a service charge.

Capital asset pricing model (CAPM)

An economic theory that describes the relationship between risk and
expected return, and serves as a model for the pricing of risky securities. The CAPM asserts that the only risk
that is priced by rational investors is systematic risk, because that risk cannot be eliminated by diversification.
The CAPM says that the expected return of a security or a portfolio is equal to the rate on a risk-free security
plus a risk premium.

Company-specific risk

Related: Unsystematic risk

Confirmation

he written statement that follows any "trade" in the securities markets. Confirmation is issued
immediately after a trade is executed. It spells out settlement date, terms, commission, etc.

Cost of funds

Interest rate associated with borrowing money.

Current assets

Value of cash, accounts receivable, inventories, marketable securities and other assets that
could be converted to cash in less than 1 year.

Debt securities

IOUs created through loan-type transactions - commercial paper, bank CDs, bills, bonds, and
other instruments.

Depository transfer check (DTC)

Check made out directly by a local bank to a particular firm or person.

Derivative instruments

Contracts such as options and futures whose price is derived from the price of the
underlying financial asset.

Derivative markets

Markets for derivative instruments.

Derivative security

A financial security, such as an option, or future, whose value is derived in part from the
value and characteristics of another security, the underlying security.

Detrend

To remove the general drift, tendency or bent of a set of statistical data as related to time.

Discount securities

Non-interest-bearing money market instruments that are issued at a discount and
redeemed at maturity for full face value, e.g. U.S. Treasury bills.

Dividend yield (Funds)

Indicated yield represents return on a share of a mutual fund held over the past 12
months. Assumes fund was purchased 1 year ago. Reflects effect of sales charges (at current rates), but not
redemption charges.

Dow Jones industrial average

This is the best known U.S.index of stocks. It contains 30 stocks that trade on
the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow, as it is called, is a barometer of how shares of the largest
U.S.companies are performing. There are thousands of investment indexes around the world for stocks,
bonds, currencies and commodities.

Dynamic asset allocation

An asset allocation strategy in which the asset mix is mechanistically shifted in
response to -changing market conditions, as in a portfolio insurance strategy, for example.

Either/or facility

An agreement permitting a bank customer to borrow either domestic dollars from the
bank's head office or Eurodollars from one of its foreign branches.

Either-way market

In the interbank Eurodollar deposit market, an either-way market is one in which the bid
and offered rates are identical.

Electronic depository transfers

The transfer of funds between bank accounts through the Automated
Clearing House (ACH) system.

Endowment funds

Investment funds established for the support of institutions such as colleges, private
schools, museums, hospitals, and foundations. The investment income may be used for the operation of the
institution and for capital expenditures.

European Monetary System (EMS)

An exchange arrangement formed in 1979 that involves the currencies
of European Union member countries.

Excess returns

Also called abnormal returns, returns in excess of those required by some asset pricing model.

Exchange of assets

Acquisition of another company by purchase of its assets in exchange for cash or stock.

Exempt securities

Instruments exempt from the registration requirements of the securities Act of 1933 or the
margin requirements of the SEC Act of 1934. Such securities include government bonds, agencies, munis,
commercial paper, and private placements.

Expected future cash flows

Projected future cash flows associated with an asset of decision.

Federal agency securities

securities issued by corporations and agencies created by the U.S. government,
such as the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and Ginnie Mae.

Federal funds

Non-interest bearing deposits held in reserve for depository institutions at their district Federal
Reserve Bank. Also, excess reserves lent by banks to each other.

Federal funds market

The market where banks can borrow or lend reserves, allowing banks temporarily
short of their required reserves to borrow reserves from banks that have excess reserves.

Federal funds rate

This is the interest rate that banks with excess reserves at a Federal Reserve district bank
charge other banks that need overnight loans. The Fed funds rate, as it is called, often points to the direction
of U.S. interest rates.

Financial assets

Claims on real assets.

Firm

Refers to an order to buy or sell that can be executed without confirmation for some fixed period. Also,
a synonym for company.

Firm commitment underwriting

An undewriting in which an investment banking firm commits to buy the
entire issue and assumes all financial responsibility for any unsold shares.

Firm's net value of debt

Total firm value minus total firm debt.

Firm-specific risk

See:diversifiable risk or unsystematic risk.

Fixed asset

Long-lived property owned by a firm that is used by a firm in the production of its income.
Tangible fixed assets include real estate, plant, and equipment. Intangible fixed assets include patents,
trademarks, and customer recognition.

Fixed asset turnover ratio

The ratio of sales to fixed assets.

Forward Fed funds

Fed funds traded for future delivery.

Free cash flows

Cash not required for operations or for reinvestment. Often defined as earnings before
interest (often obtained from operating income line on the income statement) less capital expenditures less the
change in working capital.

Funds From Operations (FFO)

Used by real estate and other investment trusts to define the cash flow from
trust operations. It is earnings with depreciation and amortization added back. A similar term increasingly
used is funds Available for Distribution (FAD), which is FFO less capital investments in trust property and
the amortization of mortgages.

Government securities

Negotiable U.S. Treasury securities.

Hot money

Money that moves across country borders in response to interest rate differences and that moves
away When the interest rate differential disappears.

Hybrid

A package containing two or more different kinds of risk management instruments that are usually
interactive.

Hybrid security

A convertible security whose optioned common stock is trading in a middle range, causing
the convertible security to trade with the characteristics of both a fixed-income security and a common stock
instrument.

Incremental cash flows

Difference between the firm's cash flows with and without a project.

Intangible asset

A legal claim to some future benefit, typically a claim to future cash. Goodwill, intellectual
property, patents, copyrights, and trademarks are examples of intangible assets.

International Monetary Fund

An organization founded in 1944 to oversee exchange arrangements of
member countries and to lend foreign currency reserves to members with short-term balance of payment
problems.

International Monetary Market (IMM)

A division of the CME established in 1972 for trading financial
futures. Related: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

In-the-money

A put option that has a strike price higher than the underlying futures price, or a call option
with a strike price lower than the underlying futures price. For example, if the March COMEX silver futures
contract is trading at $6 an ounce, a March call with a strike price of $5.50 would be considered in-the-money
by $0.50 an ounce.
Related: put.

Intrinsic value of a firm

The present value of a firm's expected future net cash flows discounted by the
required rate of return.

Law of one price

An economic rule stating that a given security must have the same price regardless of the
means by which one goes about creating that security. This implies that if the payoff of a security can be
synthetically created by a package of other securities, the price of the package and the price of the security
whose payoff it replicates must be equal.

Liquid asset

asset that is easily and cheaply turned into cash - notably cash itself and short-term securities.

Long-term assets

Value of property, equipment and other capital assets minus the depreciation. This is an
entry in the bookkeeping records of a company, usually on a "cost" basis and thus does not necessarily reflect
the market value of the assets.

Limitation on asset dispositions

A bond covenant that restricts in some way a firm's ability to sell major assets.

Manufactured housing securities (MHSs)

Loans on manufactured homes - that is, factory-built or
prefabricated housing, including mobile homes.

Monetary gold

Gold held by governmental authorities as a financial asset.

Monetary policy

Actions taken by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to influence the
money supply or interest rates.

Monetary / non-monetary method

Under this translation method, monetary items (e.g. cash, accounts
payable and receivable, and long-term debt) are translated at the current rate while non-monetary items (e.g.
inventory, fixed assets, and long-term investments) are translated at historical rates.

Money base

Composed of currency and coins outside the banking system plus liabilities to the deposit money banks.

Money center banks

Banks that raise most of their funds from the domestic and international money markets, relying less on depositors for funds.

Money management

Related: Investment management.

Money manager

Related: Investment manager.

Money market

Money markets are for borrowing and lending money for three years or less. The securities in
a money market can be U.S.government bonds, treasury bills and commercial paper from banks and
companies.

Money market demand account

An account that pays interest based on short-term interest rates.

Money market fund

A mutual fund that invests only in short term securities, such as bankers' acceptances,
commercial paper, repurchase agreements and government bills. The net asset value per share is maintained at
$1. 00. Such funds are not federally insured, although the portfolio may consist of guaranteed securities
and/or the fund may have private insurance protection.

Money market hedge

The use of borrowing and lending transactions in foreign currencies to lock in the
home currency value of a foreign currency transaction.

Money market notes

Publicly traded issues that may be collateralized by mortgages and MBSs.

Money purchase plan

A defined benefit contribution plan in which the participant contributes some part and
the firm contributes at the same or a different rate. Also called and individual account plan.

Money rate of return

Annual money return as a percentage of asset value.

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